Les «complexes de phrases» de l'arabe classique

Abstract

This article aims to introduce, besides the concepts of simple and compound sentences used by all grammarians, a new concept, that of “compound of sentences”.
By “compound of sentences” we mean any set of two sentences, one of them being semantically the topic and the other the comment. Syntactically, the two sentences can be either simply juxtaposed or coordinated or one of them can be subordinated to the other.
The article offers a first inventory and a brief description, of pragmatic and argumentative nature, of the “compound of sentences” as it is found in the socalled “Classical Arabic”. Classical Arabic is here understood as being nothing else but that language which is taught in Arabic classes.
A passage of Ayyuha al-walad, written by Ghazali (d. 505/1111) and quoted and translated in the appendix, is taken as a sample of Classical Arabic. By its nature and its place in chronology, this text allows us to re-introduce a dose of diachrony in the syntax of Classical Arabic.